TV reviews: The Marble Hall Murders, Eva Longoria in Searching for France; Michael Palin in The Philippines

I’ve tried to avoid reviewing any more old biddy detective mysteries. They invariably disappoint, with storylines as clunky as old typewriters, exposition as thick as the Duchess’s make up, and cliches arriving in an old attic trunk, packed full of anxious maids and grumpy, port-soaked patriarchs.

But the lure of Lesley proved to be too much. And how can you ignore the glorious Miss Manville when she’s starring in the last ever Anthony Horowitz murder series, The Marble Hall Murders (BBC1)?

To be honest, a read-up on the character dynamic seemed promising. Susan Ryeland (Manville) is the book editor in charge of the Atticus Pünd mystery series. But as well as nursing writers in the direction of a stronger narrative, she finds herself solving murders along the way. Okay, it’s nonsense, but it’s nonsense with a twist because Ryeland solves parallel murders in different realities when she teams up Atticus Pünd (Tim McMullan). And Pünd exists only as a character in novels.

Anyway, Ryeland agrees to edit a book with a storyline set on a Greek island in the '50s, written by a young posh fella called Eliot who’s very angsty. The action then flips to Corfu, to a very large house where a group of posh kids meet to concoct mayhem. But they’re not letting off stink bombs and tying the maid’s cat’s tail to a tree. They’re creating a poison. And the victim is to be their granny.

So, why would such a group wish to off their kindly old grandmother? Turns out, old Miriam Crace (Patricia Hodge) may be the ‘greatest writer in the world’ but she is also a Grade One horror bag who, most likely, deserved to be hem-locked.

But this plot line comes with an interesting twist. One of these posh young poisoners is none other than Eliot.

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Now, it’s at this point I had real problems with the storyline. If........

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